Boxes
by Meryl Edan
Summary: Virginia Dixon needs Cristina's help yet again.


_**Boxes (Grey's Anatomy: Virginia, Cristina)**_  
>Title: Boxes<br>Rating: PG  
>Words: ~2000<br>Disclaimer: Characters property of their creators.

Cristina Yang pulled an armful of Lean Cuisines from the freezer case and dropped the boxes into her cart. After working a double shift, she was too bleary to notice what varieties she'd selected, but it mattered little; they all tasted more or less the same. She rounded the corner toward pasta next, but was stopped in her tracks by the sight of Virginia Dixon halfway down the aisle. The surgeon's cheerful red coat and hat contrasted with the grave expression on her face.

Virginia held a red shopping basket in one hand and a slip of paper in the other. She studied the paper and then the shelf of pasta noodles in front of her, then returned her attention to the paper. She set her basket on the floor and paced in clear agitation. She stopped in front of the shelf again.

Cristina approached with caution.

"Dr. Dixon. Do you need some help?"

Virginia jumped at the sound of her name and turned to Cristina in surprise.

"Can I help you find something?" Cristina repeated.

Virginia looked back to her list. "I need one box of whole wheat spaghetti and there's no whole wheat spaghetti here." Virginia gestured to an empty spot on the shelf. "Every week I buy one box, I always buy one box..." She trailed off.

Cristina left her cart and walked up to the shelves to begin rummaging.

"Dr. Yang, what are you doing?" Virginia asked nervously.

"I'm looking to see if some spaghetti might be hiding somewhere else."

"Hiding..." One corner of Virginia's mouth lifted. "Yes, perhaps some is hiding." She peered over Cristina's shoulder.

"I don't see any." Cristina extricated herself from the deep shelves. "Let me ask someone." She saw an employee at the far end of the aisle and took off toward him. Virginia followed a few steps behind.

"Excuse me, we're looking for whole wheat spaghetti. Do you think you might have any back in the stockroom?"

The young man scratched his head. "No, we're waiting on pasta. Should be in day after tomorrow."

Cristina heard Virginia groan behind her. Cristina was too tired to be dealing with this but she was in it now. This would teach her to be nosy.

She turned to face Virginia. "Come on, let's see if there's something else that might work for you."

Back at the shelf, Cristina held up a box of rotini. "How about these? Rotini are fun."

"I don't need fun, Dr. Yang. I need spaghetti."

Cristina returned the box to the shelf. Shells were probably also too much fun. "Does it have to be whole grain? There's regular spaghetti right here."

"Whole grains reduce the risk of heart disease by up to 40%. Yes, I need whole grain," Virginia insisted loudly.

"Okay, I understand." Now Cristina was getting anxious too. The last thing she wanted was to have to bear-hug Dr. Dixon in the middle of the grocery store.

Then she got an idea.

Casually, she picked up a box of whole grain penne. "I like penne myself. The shape reminds me of blood vessels, particularly the striations along the outside."

Virginia considered this. She plucked her own box from the shelf to examine. "Yes. Yes, I can see how you think so." After another long moment's thought, she knelt and placed the box slowly into her basket, lining it up squarely with the packages of granola and crackers she was already carrying. She picked up the basket and straightened to face Cristina. Her gaze somewhere off to the side, she said simply, "Thank you, Dr. Yang."

"Oh, no problem." Cristina moved to continue past Virginia and on down the aisle, but the older woman stopped her as she passed.

"Dr. Yang, I have a lot of videos, videos of heart surgeries. I performed some of the surgeries and the rest of the surgeries were performed by others. My favorite is the one of the first successful heart-lung transplant performed in the United States. I've watched it many times."

Virginia stopped there. She looked Cristina in the eyes briefly and then dropped her gaze to the floor, waiting.

Cristina wasn't sure if it was her fatigue or Dixon herself, but she was baffled. "That's...that's very interesting, Dr. Dixon." Cristina resumed pushing her cart away.

"You could watch them," Virginia called after her.

Cristina stopped again. She turned to face Virginia. "Are you offering to lend me your videos?"

"No," Virginia answered matter-of-factly. She switched her basket to her other hand.

Cristina felt like she needed an interpreter. "Are you..." She thought out loud, trying to suss out Dixon's intention. "...inviting me to watch your videos with you?"

"Yes." Virginia's raised the corner of her mouth in pleasure at being understood.

"At your house?" Cristina tried not to sound incredulous, though she didn't know if disbelief was one of the emotions Dixon could reliably detect.

"Yes. You said you wanted to learn."

"I do." Cristina rested her hands on her hips. "Um, yes. I'd really appreciate that. Just let me know when you have time-"

"I have time tomorrow at seven o'clock. I am planning to watch a CABG performed by a Viennese surgeon employing a new laser method."

Dixon cut right to the chase. Cristina had to search her mind quickly to think of her schedule for the next day.

"Yes, that's fine. Here, write your address down for me." Cristina fished a pen and old receipt from her coat pocket and Virginia wrote her address neatly on the back.

"Thank you, Dr. Dixon," Cristina replied, but Virginia was already gone.

Cristina knocked on Virginia's door at seven sharp. She regretted not bringing a bottle of wine, or at least doing a shot or two before she left. She had no idea what to expect.

Virginia answered the door in a red sweater and chinos and after the barest of greetings, led Cristina down a short hallway into her living room. Her house was just as Cristina had expected, small, immaculately neat, and neutrally toned apart from the occasional red accent on a pillow or piece of art.

Virginia tucked herself into one end of her plush couch and pulled a red throw over her lap. "You can sit there," she ordered more than offered, as she gestured at the other end of the couch.

The formality, the fact that Virginia hadn't offered her a drink, and the precise instructions made Cristina feel more like she was a student in a classroom than a guest in someone's home. The sensation was oddly comforting to her and she settled opposite Virginia on the couch, now eager to see what came next.

Virginia had the television and DVD prepared already. She dimmed the lamp next to her and pressed play on her remote. Cristina could see that as the procedure started, Virginia fell immediately into a trance, her sole focus the surgery in front of her. Cristina hadn't seen this laser technique before and soon was as captivated as Virginia.

The hours passed quickly and when the final sutures were placed and the video ended, Cristina felt as though she'd just sat down. Virginia ejected the disc and stood to pack it back into its case and place it neatly back onto her shelf.

Virginia turned to Cristina and fidgeted, obviously unsure what to do next. She clenched her hands at her sides as her gaze darted around the room.

"Dr. Dixon, may I ask you a few questions?"

"Are they questions about the procedure?" Virginia asked.

"Yes." Cristina sat up straighter on the couch.

"Go ahead." Virginia remained standing at the front of the room. She clasped her hands behind her back.

Cristina began asking the series of questions she'd listed mentally as she'd watched. Virginia began pacing a short track in front of the room as she answered each in detail. Cristina found she appreciated Virginia's complete neutrality. Her answers bore none of Preston Burke's self-aggrandizing, and none of Erica Hahn's condescension.

When Virginia had answered everything Cristina wanted to know, Cristina stood.

"Thank you, Dr. Dixon. I appreciated this."

She couldn't be sure, but she thought Virginia smiled at that.

"If you would like to come back next week, Dr. Yang, I have another procedure I would like to show you."

Cristina found she couldn't wait.

Cristina and Virginia fell into an easy routine of weekly movie nights. The first few were identical - they watched in silence, then Virginia stood and took questions. Cristina told no one about what she was doing; Meredith and Alex would want to come and Cristina suspected Virginia wouldn't tolerate a larger audience.

At their fifth meeting, Cristina took her customary seat at the end of the couch. Before Virginia could start the video, though, Cristina leaned down and rummaged into her bag. Virginia watched her with apprehension.

Cristina pulled out a plastic container and removed the lid to reveal plump, fresh blueberries. She pushed the container to the middle of the couch where Virginia could reach it. Virginia glanced at the bowl, then at Cristina, then across the room.

"I brought a snack. Please have some if you like." Cristina gestured toward the television. "I'm ready."

Virginia gave the blueberries another wary glare but started the video.

Cristina reached for a handful of fruit every so often, and the first few times, Virginia jumped, startled. Cristina ignored her and kept her eyes trained on the television. About halfway through the surgery, Virginia's curiosity got the better of her and she reached out for a blueberry. She relaxed visibly after that, and helped herself liberally to the blueberries. When the video ended, Cristina offered her the remaining few berries, and Virginia accepted them with delight.

The following week, when Cristina walked into Virginia's living room, there was a small bowl of mixed nuts in the center of the couch.

"I brought a snack," Virginia declared, repeating Cristina's words from the previous week. "Please have some if you like."

As the weeks progressed, the pair took turns bringing heart-healthy food. Cristina hid her grimace when Virginia produced prunes one evening, but managed to choke down just enough to be polite. Virginia was especially tickled by the edamame Cristina brought the following week.

The post-video Q&A continued and Cristina was learning as much during her movie nights with Virginia as she was in the hospital. Her colleagues noticed and when she was questioned about it, Cristina only shrugged and said she'd been doing some research.

Cristina was dumping yet another pile of Lean Cuisines into her grocery cart when she heard her name.

"Dr. Yang!" It was Virginia, right behind her and beaming. In her hand she held a red basket containing crackers, granola, some produce, and a box of penne.

Cristina smiled.

"Dr. Dixon. Are they out of spaghetti again?" Cristina nodded toward the penne.

Virginia shook her head. "No, they are not. I chose penne because I like it better than spaghetti."

"I see." Cristina gloated inwardly.

"Thank you for pointing it out to me." Virginia struggled to make eye contact but finally managed to hold Cristina's gaze. "You're a very nice person, Dr. Yang."

Cristina felt her heart melt just a tiny bit. "Oh, I'm not really." At Virginia's look of confusion, she added, "I mean, not usually. I guess you bring it out in me."

At that, Virginia offered an awkward curtsey and said, "See you Thursday, Dr. Yang." She strode off down the aisle.

Cristina watched the red coat and small backpack disappear around the end of the aisle.

She was looking forward to it.


End file.
